RAS question
Which of the following is the correct sequence of major dams on the Chambal River from upstream to downstream?
Correct answer: (A) Gandhi Sagar → Rana Pratap Sagar → Jawahar Sagar.
From upstream to downstream on the Chambal River, the major dam sequence is Gandhi Sagar, then Rana Pratap Sagar, then Jawahar Sagar.
Explanation
The Chambal Valley Development Project is a joint project of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and its dam order is best read along the river. Gandhi Sagar is the uppermost dam in Madhya Pradesh. Downstream, the river reaches Rana Pratap Sagar at Rawatbhata in Chittorgarh, and then Jawahar Sagar at Kota. The Central Water Commission's Yamuna morphology report separately confirms that on the Chambal, a tributary of the Yamuna, these three dams are constructed in the basin and lists them as Gandhi Sagar, Rana Pratap Sagar and Jawahar Sagar. The upstream-to-downstream sequence is Gandhi Sagar -> Rana Pratap Sagar -> Jawahar Sagar.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Jawahar Sagar is not the upstream starting point; the sequence begins with Gandhi Sagar and reaches Jawahar Sagar only after Rana Pratap Sagar.
- (C) Rana Pratap Sagar cannot come first because Gandhi Sagar is the uppermost dam in the Chambal Valley sequence.
- (D) Gandhi Sagar comes first, but Jawahar Sagar does not come before Rana Pratap Sagar; Jawahar Sagar comes after Rana Pratap Sagar.
Concept
River-valley project mapping in Rajasthan geography links a river to its major dams in upstream-to-downstream order. Chambal recurs in RAS because it is a major Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh project and the dam sequence is a standard factual check.